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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2367.PDF
668 PLIGhr H.M.S. "EAGLE' ' . . . were able to judge from a purely external examination of the centralizing system, it would appear that the aircraft is taxied forward until the main wheels come to rest on sets of rollers positioned athwartships at the rear end of the catapult trolley- slot. The rollers must be powered so as to move the aircraft bodily sideways to the correct position. Also to be seen were rubber "mats" rather like those in roads for traffic-light actuation. Ahead of the mats were hinged flaps in the deck and these we assume to be automatic chocks. In common with the existing fleet carriers, Eagle's main armament comprises 16 4.5m guns, but uncommonly, these are dual-purpose high-angle/low-angle units, mounted in pairs in flat-topped deck-level barbettes, there being two pairs of guns per battery, and one battery on each bow and each quarter. The fire-direction system for all the guns incorporates the most recent developments and is particu- larly designed to cope with high-speed targets. Radar con- trol is also provided so that targets may be engaged at night or in conditions of poor visibility and with an accuracy cor- responding to that achieved in visual fire. As part of the modern trend, the ammunition and charge hoisting arrange- ments are entirely new and fully automatic, and we were told that this development frees seven men from each pair of guns. In addition to the main armament, the ship also has 57 40-mm Bofors guns in multiple and single turrets. These are controlled by special radar directors, which are not only extremely accur- ate, but give an astonishingly high percentage of hits at their effective range. In conclusion, it remains only to be said that Eagle will start embarking her squadrons in the spring. The first of them will be No. 800 Squadron which, as we stated in the October 19th issue of Flight, is the first operational squadron in the Navy to be equipped with jet aircraft—Attackers. No. 800 is a fine squadron. Eagle is a great ship. We feel sure that both will achieve the highest standards of Naval tradition. C.B.B-W. Commander Wind-rode, and lying to her starboard anchor off Tail of the Bank in the River Clyde, H.M.S. '•Eagle" presented a stir- ring si^ht desf:it£-aJivid and watery" "Flight" photograph A.S.V. ANNIVERSARY THEN years ago today, November 30th, the first "kill" of a ••• U-boat detected by airborne radar was recorded, when a Whitlcy of No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron—operating from Chivenor, Devon, and commanded by the late F/O. R. G. Holdsworth—sunk U.206 250 miles west of St. Nazaire. The apparatus used was the Mk 1 A.S.V. Now, for the first time, the Air Ministry has made public the story of some of the early research work on airborne ship-detecting radar. It began in 1935, when experiments had already shown that airborne equipment was essential if the possibilities of radar detection were to be, exploited to the full. Research was started by Dr. E. G. Bowen (now head of the Australian Government Radio Physics laboratory at Sydney) and a small team of co-workers. Their problem was to produce, on a scale to fit inside an aircraft, radar equipment that would provide results comparable with those of the existing ground installations—which weighed tons and used aerials up to 240ft high. By December, 1936, a small receiver was completed and fitted in a Heyford and, used in conjunction with a ground transmitter, it gave the first proof that echoes from one aircraft could be received in another; earlv in the following year a transmitter was also installed in the Heyford. The emphasis at this time was still on producing equipment to detect other aircraft, but during test flights around Harwich it was noticed that echoes were received from the coastline and harbour installations. In July, I937> a more advanced set was fitted into an Anson and on an early trial flight echoes were obtained from a 2,000-ton freighter at a distance of five miles. Elated by this result, Dr. Bowen decided to explore further the employment of radar for detecting ships at sea, and it was arranged that trials should be made, in strict secrecy, during Home Fleet and Coastal Command exercises in September. A preliminary flight was made on the eve of the exercise, during which H.M. Ships Rodney, Southampton and Courageous, steaming through the Channel to the exercise area, were intercepted at a range of four miles. Overwhelming proof of success was provided next day, Septem- ber 4th. Soon after the start of the exercise the weather steadily deteriorated and all Coastal Command aircraft were recalled before any Fleet sightings had been reported. The Anson, which was not fitted with radio and did not receive the recall, continued with its private reconnaissance. Flying in very poor visibility, it picked up the Courageous, Southampton and attendant destroyers by radar at a range of about nine miles. As it closed to within visual range to confirm the identity of the warships the vessels thought that an official "attack" was imminent, and Courageous dispatched her fighters to intercept. These, too, appeared on the Anson's radar screen as they took off. Aided by radar responses from the coastline, the Anson made an accurate landfall despite very bad weather, and that evening a somewhat surprised Duty Air Staff officer, who believed that all flying had been cancelled, received a telephone message accurately stating the position of the Fleet. Experiments with the Anson continued at Martlesham Heath, using many different aerial layouts and various modifications. F/L. Kenneth Naish (then a sergeant), who flew the aircraft on the earlier tests, continued to act as pilot, with Dr. Bowen as radar observer. One effect of the aerials was to increase the stalling speed by some 20 m.p.h., and the normally docile Anson became a machine requiring very careful handling. F/L. Naish, who has recently rejoined the R.A.F. in the Fighter Control Branch, recalls that one aerial was installed between the wheels, making it impossible to retract the undercarriage, and that the general impression was of a flying Christmas tree. SECURITY-MINDED"] T TNUSUAL initiative was shown by a motorist who, passing the ^ Gloster airfield at Moreton Valence last Sunday, saw (it is reported) a man and woman taking photographs. A pilot also wirelessed a warning to the control tower. Shortly afterwards, police stopped a car at Stonehouse, three miles away, and took possession of a camera carried by its occupants, said to be an Italian man and a German woman.
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